#speaker Mike Johnson

[canadianabroadvery]

[davidaugust]

The Speaker of the US House of Representatives Mike Johnson has given the Ukrainian city of Avdiivka to Russia.

He did this by blocking a bill that would supply ammunition to Ukrainian soldiers, despite the widespread support in Congress and the American people.

“White House National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson called the withdrawal ‘the cost of Congressional inaction.’”

https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-war-avdiivka-c31eb7439d1983532a3f940061efe6e7

[grits-galraisedinthesouth]

[geezerwench]

Why won’t Republicans come back to vote for FEMA money? The worst reason imaginable.

JessCraven101 on Tiktok #fema #helene #milton #hurricanemilton

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Bill Bramhall

* * * *

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

February 16, 2024

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

FEB 17, 2024

At the Munich Security Conference, where leaders from more than 70 countries gather annually in Germany to discuss international security policy, Vice President Kamala Harris today responded to Trump’s recent attacks on America’s global leadership with a full-throated defense of global engagement.

People around the world have reason to wonder if the United States is committed to global leadership, she acknowledged. Americans, she said, must also ask themselves “[w]hether it is in America’s interest to continue to engage with the world or to turn inward. Whether it is in our interest to defend longstanding rules and norms that have provided for unprecedented peace and prosperity or to allow them to be trampled. Whether it is in America’s interest to fight for democracy or to accept the rise of dictators. And whether it is in America’s interest to continue to work in lockstep with our allies and partners or go it alone.”

Harris spoke at least in part to people at home, saying that upholding international rules and democratic values “makes America strong, and it keeps Americans safe.” Isolating ourselves and embracing dictators while we “abandon commitments to our allies in favor of unilateral action” is “dangerous, destabilizing, and indeed short-sighted,” she said. “That view would weaken America and would undermine global stability and undermine global prosperity.”

The Biden administration’s approach to global engagement is not “based on the virtues of charity,” Harris said, but rather is based on the nation’s strategic interest. “Our leadership keeps our homeland safe, supports American jobs, secures supply chains, and opens new markets for American goods. And I firmly believe,” she added, “our commitment to build and sustain alliances has helped America become the most powerful and prosperous country in the world—alliances that have prevented wars, defended freedom, and maintained stability from Europe to the Indo-Pacific. To put all of that at risk would be foolish.”

Turning to the defense of Ukraine in the face of Russia’s invasion, she said: “we have joined forces with our friends and allies to stand up for freedom and democracy…. The world has come together, with leadership from the United States, to defend the basic principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity and to stop an imperialist authoritarian from subjugating a free and democratic people.” 

The European Union has recently committed $54 billion to support Ukraine in addition to “the more than $100 billion our European allies and partners have already dedicated,” she said, noting that that support makes it clear that Europe will stand with Ukraine. 

“I will make clear President Joe Biden and I stand with Ukraine,” Harris said. “In partnership with supportive, bipartisan majorities in both houses of the United States Congress, we will work to secure critical weapons and resources that Ukraine so badly needs. And let me be clear: The failure to do so would be a gift to Vladimir Putin.”

“If we fail to impose severe consequences on Russia” for its invasion of Ukraine, she warned, “other authoritarians across the globe would be emboldened, because you see, they will be watching…and drawing lessons. “In these unsettled times, it is clear,” she said. “America cannot retreat. America must stand strong for democracy. We must stand in defense of international rules and norms, and we must stand with our allies.”

“[T]he American people will meet this moment,” Vice President Harris said, “and America will continue to lead.”

News that arrived just before Harris began to speak underscored her argument: Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has died in a Russian prison a day after being recorded on video in court, seemingly healthy. Navalny’s crusade against Putin’s corruption had led Putin to try repeatedly to murder him, then finally in 2021 to imprison him on trumped-up charges. Navalny’s widow, Yulia Navalnaya, took the stage after Harris and vowed that Vladimir Putin and his allies “will be brought to justice, and this day will come soon.”

Russian elections will be held next month, and while Putin is assumed to be the certain victor, his recent disqualification of Boris Nadezhdin, who was running on a platform that opposed the Ukraine war, suggests he is concerned about opposition. Eliminating Navalny at this moment sends a warning to other Russians that, as Anne Applebaum noted in a piece today in The Atlantic, courage in opposing Putin is pointless. 

In the U.S., Navalny’s apparent murder creates a political problem for Republicans. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) yesterday recessed the House for two weeks without taking up the national security supplemental bill that would support Ukraine in its fight against Russia, just as its supplies are running out. 

On Saturday, former president Trump told an audience he would encourage Russia to “do whatever the hell they want” to NATO countries that are not devoting 2% of their gross domestic product to building up their militaries. Meanwhile, former Fox News Channel personality Tucker Carlson has been in Moscow, interviewing Putin and favorably comparing Russia to the United States.

On Monday, in Dubai, Egyptian journalist Emad El Din Adeeb asked Carlson why, when interviewing Putin, he “did not talk about Navalny, about assassinations, about restrictions on opposition in the coming elections.” Carlson replied by equating Russia and the U.S., saying: “Every leader kills people…. Some kill more than others. Leadership requires killing people.”          

The death of Navalny at just this moment appears to tie the Republicans to Putin’s murderous regime, and party leaders scrambled today to distance themselves from Putin. House speaker Mike Johnson, who has resisted passing aid to Ukraine and insisted the House would not be “rushed” into passing such a measure, released a statement saying that “as international leaders are meeting in Munich, we must be clear that Putin will be met with united opposition…. [T]he United States, and our partners, must be using every means available to cut off Putin’s ability to fund his unprovoked war in Ukraine and aggression against the Baltic states.” 

Republicans trying to carve out distance between themselves and Trump’s MAGA Republicans used the occasion to call out MAGAs, saying, as former vice president Mike Pence did, “There is no room in the Republican Party for apologists for Putin.” Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina, who has pushed hard for Ukraine aid, wrote: “Putin is a murderous, paranoid dictator. History will not be kind to those in America who make apologies for Putin and praise Russian autocracy. Nor will history be kind to America’s leaders who stay silent because they fear backlash from online pundits.”

Navalny attacked the Putin regime by calling attention to its extraordinary corruption, and somewhat fittingly, the corruption of former president Donald Trump, who won the White House with Putin’s help, was also on the docket today. 

In Manhattan, in the case concerning Trump and the Trump Organization’s manipulation of financial statements in order to get better loan terms and to pay fewer taxes, Justice Arthur Engoron ordered Trump and the Trump Organization to disgorge about $355 million in ill-gotten gains as well as more than $98 million in interest on that money from the time Trump obtained it through fraud. The total came to just under $454 million. Engoron also barred Trump from running a business or applying for a loan in New York for three years. The judge ordered Trump’s sons Donald Jr. and Eric to pay more than $4 million each and barred them from serving as officers or directors of any New York corporation or legal entity for two years.  

“[D]efendants submitted blatantly false financial data to…accountants,” Engoron wrote, “resulting in fraudulent financial statements. When confronted at trial with the statements, defendants’ fact and expert witnesses simply denied reality, and defendants failed to accept responsibility….” Engoron detailed the reluctance of the Trumps, including Ivanka, to tell the truth on the witness stand, and concluded: “Their complete lack of contrition and remorse borders on pathological.” 

New York attorney general Letitia James, who brought the lawsuit, commented: “Donald Trump is finally facing accountability for his lying, cheating, and staggering fraud. Because no matter how big, rich, or powerful you think you are, no one is above the law.”

In his 2022 documentary about Alexei Navalny, director Daniel Roher asked Navalny what message he would leave for the Russian people if he were killed. “Listen,” Navalny answered. “I’ve got something very obvious to tell you. You’re not allowed to give up. If they decide to kill me, it means that we are incredibly strong. We need to utilize this power to not give up, to remember we are a huge power that is being oppressed by these bad dudes. We don’t realize how strong we actually are.

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

[aloveofclaritea]

so lawmakers have their right to single-sex spaces respected and upheld, but the average woman in the US still does not....

[evilmark999]

Nearly five years ago, an intelligent, impassioned man by the name of Jon Stewart spoke on behalf of all 9/11 responders to a representative - and partial - panel of congressmen. It was strong. It was sad. It was damning. And it was telling. Watch it:

At the time - the latter half of the Trump presidency - Mitch McConnell was the Republican Majority Leader in the Senate...

McConnell was notorious for his uncompromising actions on issues that bolstered Republican stances and thwarted all others. And the 9/11 responders were Not. His. Problem...

Are you still reading this?

At the 5:50 mark of Stewart's address, Jon singles out a Mr Johnson - who is currently Speaker of the House Mike Johnson - for belittling the issue, for blowing them off, and for doing nothing, which was how all Republicans were falling in line at the time...

In terms of actual work for the good of the people, Mike Johnson was singled out for his do-nothing demeanor back then, just as he has proven himself to be do-nothing today. And Jon Stewart just continues to be prescient!

Stewart's speech worked wonders, eighteen YEARS after 9/11, and after the matter spent most of the Trump presidency getting absolutely no consideration at all...

It's been five years since then, and they - like Jon - keep telling us who they are!

[EDIT] I'm changing my tags. Instead of using mostly keywords from what is written, I'm going to experiment with tags that maybe share some appeal. Wish me luck!

[never-was-has-been]

From Aure Free Press: RUSSIAN MURDER!

In total, last night Russia fired at Ukraine:

- 7 S-300/S-400 anti-aircraft guided missiles; - 3 Shahed drones; - 6 Kh-47M2 "Kinzhal" aerial ballistic missiles - 12 cruise missiles Kh-101/Kh-555/X-55; - 6 cruise missiles Kh-22; - 2 guided aircraft missiles Kh-31P; - 4 Kh-59 guided aircraft missiles.

More than 20 missiles that were not included in the statistics did not reach their targets.

MAGA MIKE JOHNSON wanted each missile to hit their mark! _____My reply to Aure Free Press: " @Free_Press I liked & boosted this. However, can Aure Free Press verify that Speaker MAGA Mike actually said this out loud or implied it VERY specifically? IF NOT then WHY do U post this hyperbole? I infer from this that he said this or implied it too, becuz the man is NOT a Pro-America patriot like he claims 2 be albeit his version of "Jesus" is a hateful vengeful tyrant-god. So make a point 2 at least write what U can backup with a reliable source(s)!🤨 WE are at the mercy of Global media.😨😒😤😡 "

[govtshutdown]

It's easy to spot the sheep among the wolves

[suzilight]

The First Amendment of the Constitution stipulates that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." In a letter referencing that amendment, Jefferson referred to it as "a wall of separation between Church and State."

Speaker Mike Johnson's worldview goes as far as to cast the US not as a democracy but as a “biblical” republic, as he stated in a 2016 interview. 

[liberty1776]

His foreign policy ideas are frightening! Real conservative patriots don't want to spend American blood and treasure defending fascist states.

[arlengrossman]

Why Didn't Someone Think of This Before?

By Arlen Grossman/ October 27 ,2023 After mass shooting, new speaker calls for prayer that ‘senseless violence can stop’ Mike Johnson has opposed gun control measures for years, and opined about the role of faith in response to violence Amazing! Two Days Into His New job, and he already has a solution to this horrible problem in America: Prayer! Why Didn’t Anyone Else Think of This? Speaker…

[stanthejokeman]

Joe Rogan's Boy Trump Appoints Child Abuser Matt Gaetz as Top Lawman and...

NO SHAME from the @republicansexscandals @republicangal-blog  IF YOU CAN’T defend your rapist pedophile friends who hang out with Jeffrey Epstein, put them in charge!  @oklahomanewsnet-blog-blog

[geezerwench]

Yet another Republican with ties to (owned by) Russia.

[duking-out-life]

The Power of One Vote Vs. the Sustainability of Many Prayers

Our prayers are working!

This post may contain affiliate links where I am paid a small fee Election season is underway in the US, and the political rhetoric is hotter than ever. The stark contrast in values between the parties means many of us have already decided who will get our vote. Nevertheless, we must tolerate the relentless stream of campaign ads bombarding the airwaves until the first Tuesday of November. Some…

[thenewdemocratus]

Inside Politics With Manu Raju: 'Inside Donald Trump’s Gripe-Filled Closed-Door Meeting With House GOP'

Source:CNN talking about 34 time convicted felon Donald J. Trump’s visit to Capitol Hill. Hopefully they searched him first to make sure he wasn’t packing. Even his mouth is a dangerous weapon. “Former President Donald Trump led House Republicans through a gripe-filled closed-door meeting on Capitol Hill, airing grievances about his legal and electoral challenges, attacking his critics in the…